Our simple5step setup

Takes you from start to finish and offers ongoing support. Leave all the hard work to First Years saving you time and money.

01

Provider approval

02

Service approval

03

Construction

04

Administration

05

Handover

ok,let'sbreakitdown a little further

STEP 01

PROVIDER APPROVAL

On acceptance of our service, First Years will apply for provider approval, on your behalf… First Years will fill out the necessary paperwork, lodge claims and follow up with regulatory bodies until approval is granted. We will be inn touch on a regular basis with updates on this process. This process can take 2-4 weeks depending on individual requirements

STEP 02

SERVICE APPROVAL

All early childhood education and care services need to gain service approval from their state regulatory authority before the building and operation of a service commences. There are certain legislative and regulatory requirements that must be met before this approval is granted. There is a range of information that needs to be submitted for this approval and your First Years project manager will ensure that it gets filed in a prompt time frame.

Once your service has been approved and is operational, it will be assessed and rated by your state regulatory authorities against 7 quality areas, 18 standards, and 58 elements that make up the NQS. On completion of the assessment, your services rating is published for the public to access. It is important to ensure you achieve the highest rating possible, as this builds the reputation for your centre. First Years will help you achieve this!

STEP 03

CONSTRUCTION

Project management

Once service approval has been granted, the construction of your service can start. We will oversee this to ensure it runs as smooth as possible. We will liaise directly with all involved parties, so you can be assured everyone is working towards the completion of the construction in the most seamless way possible.

Staffing

While the builders are working, your First Years project manager will begin sourcing staff. We will oversee staff hiring, including director, administrator, on the floor educators and in house chef (if applicable) as well as help in salary negotiations and packages. There are specific staffing arrangements that are required under regulations, such as number of qualified teachers per child. First Years is about producing a quality service and the staff of an early childhood service are the key to ensuring a quality service runs thoroughly.

Fit-out

Having strong industry knowledge, First Years consultants understand that high quality and educational resources can strongly enhance a child’s learning. With so many providers of educational resources on the market, it can be difficult to find the quality resources through the amount of uninspiring and boring resources that are available. Your First Years project manager will ensure that the resources purchased are of high quality and engaging for the children. Our aim is to provide children with ‘real life’ experiences that allow them the opportunity to discover the world around them and develop creative and imaginative environments with open-ended resources.

Landscaping

We will meet with architect landscapers and use industry knowledge to set up attractive, workable designs and our focus is to create quality early education that allows children to explore the natural environment as much as possible.

STEP 04

ADMINISTRATION

EYLF and NQF

Under the Education and Care Services State and National regulations, each Centre is required to have policies and procedures in relation to a range of matters. First Years will write these policies and procedures to meet the individual needs of the service and ensure the highest possible NQF rating.

The ability to operate a successful, high quality early education centre begins with having high quality, passionate staff. As mentioned above, we will take care of this aspect as well.

We will work with director and staff to implement a quality educational program that supports individual children and reflects the EYLF and the NQF, including a quality improvement plan well into the future.

Marketing

It is important that your branding and marketing clearly and strongly demonstrates the foundations of your business and the driving force behind your commitment to quality education and care. Just because you care for children, doesn’t mean your branding and marketing tools should look childish. In fact, quite the opposite. It should demonstrate your innovation, your passion and your commitment to children’s development and care. Your logo and website are often the first things people will use to base an opinion on with respect to your business. Old fashioned, childish, ill-considered or unprofessional logos or websites may be sending your families the wrong idea about what your centre stands for and takes pride in. They want to know you are ahead of the game. It gives them confidence that you know your business.

Office

We understand that every early childhood service runs differently and that there is different software to assist with the day-to-day running. We will recommend packages to help administer and control all the day-to-day running of your business including integrating your government obligations under their rebate schemes into your childcare management system software. Don’t forget desktop programs for word processing, reporting, emails, accounting, payroll, rostering and student software specifically designed for centres such as yours. We can even design and integrate your own centres app for daily/weekly communication with parents!

STEP 05

HANDOVER

Congratulations!

Your project is finished and you are the proud owner of an accredited, innovative and vibrant early education service.

Everything will be finished and ready for your grand opening. Time to celebrate this amazing journey and your new and exciting future.

Support

As part of our commitment to the setup of your service, we provide a six-month period in which a First Years consultant will be available to help with any teething issues that may arise. During our six-month support period, you will have phone and email support, as well as two on site visits. Whatever the issue or if you just need to talk, we will be there. We also offer ongoing Centre Management Support.

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brief

First Years Consultancy began operating in 2015 with the intent of providing quality advice and expert industry knowledge of the Early Education sector. Our vision is simple, to provide every child in Australia with quality early education.